The Miami Heat could obviously care less about the All-Star break being just two days away. They’re still attacking games, and opponents, like it’s December. They’re still grinding with one more game, tonight in Toronto, on their pre-break schedule.

If you didn’t see them go after the Pacers in last night’s Fan Night spectacular on NBA TV, you missed a treat. Love them or hate them, no one can deny the jaw-dropping brilliance this team displays when Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh are dialed in the way they were against the Pacers for long stretches.

They combined for 90 of the Heat’s 110 points, with Wade leading the way with a game-high 41 points. Kudos to the Pacers for going at the Heat. They rallied from a 24-point first quarter deficit to make the Heat sweat a little bit late. But those are the sort of tests they are likely to get on a regular basis once the action resumes after All-Star Weekend.

What’s special to watch about this Heat team right now is that they’ve figured out their true strengths and weaknesses, and when they play to those strengths … they are an extremely wicked crew to deal with. Their first quarter was stunning. Wade had 31 points by halftime, tying the franchise record set by Sherman Douglas on Dec. 27, 1990 for the most points in the first half. And then they outscored the Pacers 28-20 in the fourth quarter, showing once again why they are one of the league’s most dominant forces in the fourth quarter.

“It was amazing,” James told reporters later. “That’s part of the reason why he’s D-Wade. We saw him get going early and we just kept giving him the ball. It was an unbelievable first quarter and an unbelievable first half in itself.”

The Pacers showed that they might be a factor for a playoff spot after All-Star Weekend as well. They will be dangerous in the final weeks of the season, especially now that they know they have a chance to be something more than just a spoiler.

“The rest of the season, we’re coming,” said feisty Pacers center Roy Hibbert. “We’re not backing down. We’re not having any lackadaisical games. We’re on the prowl. We’re hungry.”

Not all the news was pleasant for the Heat after the game. According to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, veteran swingman Mike Miller left Conseco Fieldhouse in a wheelchair after “absorbing another blow to the head.”

Miller, who was tested for a concussion following a blow to the head in last Friday’s victory over the Detroit Pistons, also was observed following Sunday’s loss to the Boston Celtics, after being leveled by a hard screen from Celtics forward Kevin Garnett.

Miller was struck by an inadvertent elbow during the third quarter of Tuesday’s game, initially diagnosed with a contusion above his right eye. Coach Erik Spoelstra said Miller appeared woozy after the incident.

Miller was accompanied by a member of the Heat’s training staff to the hospital and did not accompany the team for Wednesday’s road game against the Toronto Raptors. He is scheduled to return to South Florida on a commercial flight, pending the results of the hospital tests.

Miller has a history of concussion symptoms, playing with a specially constructed lower mouthpiece.

“He’s getting banged up a little bit,” guard Dwyane Wade said.

If we’ve learned nothing about the Heat, it’s that they cannot afford to lose certain players from the lineup for any extended period of time. And Miller is one of those players.

153 Comments

@belmont no im not a hoodlum. it waz a joke(in case you dindt know) I waz a mafia guy from little italy, NYC baby.
how can you not tell the difference? iam happy to say I am proud to be an AMERICAN unlike some people
and also happy to say my parents both love and are proud of me so maybe you should
stop making wild guess about me and my family.I would apprictae it,thank you.

About the series BOS might make it by the 1st…..maybe 2nd round at the most
but will not and I say WILL not make it to the FINALS .not sayin the heat will
make it either, but since no ones giving them a chance then time to SHOCK THE WORLD.

@ACLU=BS…… Are you trying to pretend to be a gangsta rapper or something with your unintelligent slang? You sound ridiculous and need to go back to school and learn how to talk before you start posting your non coherent opinions. I’m guessing your parents aren’t too proud of you. Your pants are probably half way down the back of your crack with your underwear showing and a pair of pants that are way too big and a pair of Lugz i’m guessing.

Boston and Miami will have a great series and in the end Boston will sweep the Heat 4 to 0. It will be that much more impressive because that will mean they beat them 8 times this season. Lebron and Bosh will both start crying, they will then hug each other and start sobbing uncontrollably. Wade will come over, and tell them both they are pansies and say he doesn’t want to play with them anymore beacause they are chokers. Just sayin……….

The first half of the NBA season has been very exciting and entertaining. Several teams have positioned them selves for the play-off run once they return from the All-Star break. Indiana, after their coaching change has really been playing to the level of a team trying to make it to the play-offs. Philadelphia and Charlotte are two other teams that will make a push for a play-off spot in the East.

The number one seed in the West; barring any major injury or total collapse, should be the San Antonio Spurs with either the Lakers or Dallas being the 2 or 3 seed. With the other seeds in the West being up for grabs; it should make for a very exciting and competitive brand of basketball for the remainder of the regular season. Each team will be battling for home court advantage with Miami and Boston dueling for the top seed in the East. Neither Miami or Boston can afford to let down after the All-Star break because Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta and New York can still be seen in their rear view mirror. The East I believe will go down to the very end of the regular season games before a clear cut favorite can be determined. Boston right now has a slight advantage over both Miami and Chicago going into the break. Boston’s advantages more then anything over Miami are the point guard position and Miami’s lack of a half court offense. Chiccago by far is the sleeper in the East, with All-Star guard D-Rose playing at an MVP level and Jokim Noah’s expected return after the break, they will be the team that will more then likely push both Miami and Boston.

The competition is going to be fierce and brutal night in and night out; it’s during this time when the cream raises to the top. Although Miami is not the outright logical favorite to emerge from the East; mainly because of their current record against Boston, I still like their chances against anyone in the East simply because every game for them this year has been played as if it were a play-off game. Miami of all the teams in the NBA, is the one team that get’s every teams best each night and plays in a play-off atmoshere every single game. If Miami can make the slight adjustments in their half court ball movement and reduce their turnovers, their chances of coming out of the East are just as good as Boston or Chicago. BRING THE HEAT!!!!!

@Chris man dude your losing yo mind sorry you already lost it how can the heat beat Boston or SA in a 7 game series? I think the Lakers will take them in a 7 game series as well. The Heat did kill the Lakers on x-mas but in a 7 game series the Lakers have a lot of size and they do have decent D. Bosh was the only person that played well vs boston last game but Lechoke was like 11-24. The Heat have problems with Good D.

OK…IT HAS BEEN LONG ENOUGH ABOUT THE LEBRON ISSUES. I mean….. if LeBron were sent to LA, u LA fans would have shut the hell up what u said about Lebron today. If Lebron were sent to Orlando, Otis wouldnt have said what he said earlier after Lebron’s decision. He would have love it and enjoying it. Anywhere Lebron goes to are all JUMBO WELCOME. No team would say no to LBJ to join their team. But too bad… LBJ chose HEAT. And there is only one LBJ so one can go to one of the team. And yeh just cos he join HEAT with Wades and Bosh. Yeah and I think HEAT is the best team to go out of all the others team in NBA for this season. Where else is the best choice? LA? (no money left) NJN? ( Not a chance of championship) NYK? (Compare to Heat with Wade and Bosh? Of cos u choose HEAT) CHI? ( Well this season they did great along with boozer. But hey.. Rose just grown up this year, If the decision was to be made this year LBJ would have chosen Chicago but then again WADE + BOSH with great long history records compare to ROSE fresh record. If u were in LBJ shoe u should know what posibility u would choose to go to.

Anyway what i was trying to say is … those LBJ haters get over it. Everyone wants LBJ. But only one team can have LBJ. So get over it. Stop acting like nazi! and those stilll booings LBJ u should feel shames.. Cos those booings people is the biggest whine crying babies. Love the NBA and be a good fan of it. There is no evidents of showing LBJ is making the wrong choice. He is happy with the HEAT team. Let it go u jealousy people and show some respect for the NBA players.

ahhhhhhhhhh!!! I was waiting for this hang time blog since sunday…
Honestly I can’t stand this rajon “don’t ask don’t tell” rondo…this guy as a tricky mind…the refs were good on him, he fooled lbj like 100 times and they didn’t say anything because is a lil guy…pffffffff and he was sneaking too…real p*ssy…but I have to give him credit he’s playing well for a q*eer…
I really think the Heat have to find the strenght in their mind to beat the celtics…because speaking of athletism they can chew them any given night…
It’s the same problem for the lakers and the bobcats (but not at the same level), LA lost like 7 of the 10 last games against the bobcats…
I don’t see James and bosh having too much problem with the celtics, I think wade has a real issue with them…
By the way this year I don’t know who will win but it’s definitely not the lakers, they really struggle to beat elite teams, and thank god they had a really soft schedule at the begining of the season…However I think it’s their last shot to win a championship and after it’s bye bye phil jackson…
For the celtics “big 10” like I said before, I don’t know what much they can do…their team is already fully stacked…so If they lose this year again, I think they’re done…
And this guy on TV, Jon Barry is a real joke…I think it’s the biggest heat hater in the entire world…he was so excited by the heat loss on sunday that he doesn’t even care about the LA loss (even if is a pro-laker fan). But this is no big news that all the media, the celebrities, the refs, the guys who have a bad local team, the guys who don’t even know which team to cheer are in the same bandwagon, the one of the overhyped fake show…that will become a trainwreck in 1 year…me I cheer Miami because I live in Miami, from my window I see the American Airlines Arena…

For now i understand that you Love Boston’s Big 3 because they are effective and you hate Miami’s Big 3 because they are still in the point of adjustments… Let’s take a look in the future…. Garnett, Allen, Shaq and most of the Boston players are getting older… Who will take in charge as the Best NBA Big 3? it’s MIAMI HEAT… who do you think will take over as a veteran to the team? Rondo? Lebron can block rondo’s dunk and lay-ups anytime he wants… so what will Rondo do? because we all know Rondo cant do a jump shot… Soon you will LOVE the HEAT… forget about Kobe and the Lakers, because they’re done…

Everyone is saying that Boston has injuries and blah, blah, blah, they have all their starters, we are missing Udonis Haslem which is our fourth best player too. Mike Miller is coming off injury, in the first game, Wade was coming off injury and we did not have Miller, so injured players coming back shouldn’t really affect the game, just how the players play.

Look Heat fans, beat Celtics and then talk! I mean yeah go ahead and beat up all the easy teams in the east which last time I looked was a ton!!!! But when it comes to especially Celtics and probably Spurs then talk! I love my Lakers but I don’t include them in that because they simple don’t play every night. Is that a bad thing? Yes. But when you are 2 time champs and been to the finals 3 times than talk to me about it! I don’t even want to hear it until then. Had Celtics beaten the Lakers last year L.A. would be on a mission to win but since they did they have that privilege. I really don’t think a team that has NO BENCH can beat in a 7 game series Celtics, Lakers, or Spurs. There defense is so good that one of those big 3 won’t be hot or 2 of them and they simply can’t score. Look at all the Celtic and heat games. Where is D-Wade??? Where is LeBum??? Where is Bosh??? They can’t score. Hence, Lakers and Celtics in the finals once again! Period.

You just forgot when Kobe had 5 shots over 18 attempts against bad team? i just dont want to mention it for respect… Where is KOBE that time? and by the way, Kobe’s team carried him last Finals to Beat Celtics. Where is Kobe Now? Kobe is getting older man…

@HEATSUCK: Accept the fact that you wont be recognize for whoever team will win championship or the best team in NBA right now… Boston or Lakers will not give you a credit for that… That’s why Lebron left you!!! and the reason why You HATE the HEAT!!!! OMG!!! get real dude.. hahahahaha

I never leave comments because most of the people here have no life, but looking at what this idiot “THEHEATSUCK” comments, got me wondering how ignorant people are. This no life idiot says he watches basketball, but in reality his comments sound like a 8 year old bully, look idiot the regular season if you don’t know is just a preview of what can happen in the playoffs, you cant predict and say that Boston. LA, or other team will be the champion or if the heat wont win it all… but i guess your knowledge about the game is just as smart as your nickname “ignorant” in another words. So please go out there and find a job or something to do, I can imagine your ignorant ass seating by your computer just waiting to talk crap about the heat without really enjoying the game how it should be. I bet you watched every heat game trying to look for something to hate so that way you have ignorant comments so people can respond to you.. maybe you’re a bigger fan than the heat fans… who knows..

Ima heat fan but seeing the Celtics play so well, Heat wont beat them this year. Until the bench is completely healthy, they wont be in the finals. Celtics are playing like a true champion right now but wait till next year when Heat make trades

year 2006, Pistons’ fans were saying same thing when heat went down 0-3 against Pistons in regular season, then won last game at home, and after that WON THE TITLE, i am seeing hisrtory repeating it self.

Man you guys are going all over the place like the media. First of all look at the spurs. Some of you think its L.A. when they lost to MJ’s bobcats and had other dumb losses. As for the C’s, they got enough players that compliment each other with mad playoff experince on an individual basis. Rondo as become a prime guard, dropping dimes everywhere. The Heat(srry), as much as I’d like them too be good, are still learning to hold down the fort together because the big 3 are young guys unlike boston. I could go on but my point is its anybody’s game.

boston can and will be beat by the heat outside of ray allen they dont have a cosistent scorer in thier lineup who can get thier own shot. paul pierce cant score when he has to play defense against an elite small forward, irrelevent against cleveland last year, but played well against orlando, rondo has no jumpshot, garnett isnt what he used to be, and thier bigs is where they supposedly have the advantage, look where they rank as a team in rebounds, any team can be beaten on a given night d wade aint gon average 13 points against them in a 7 game series, and miamis youth will prevail, because unlike last year when boston beat miami and cleveland, as a good coach you stop the star and make the rest of the team beat you, but now doc gotta stop 3, and last time he had that problem he lost, kobe,pau,andrew

@David do you think Paul P will score just 1 point vs anyone in the playoffs? The Celtic’s are not even full strength and can handle the Heat. The Celtic’s have stopped the heat 3 times this season so how will they not stop them in the playoffs. The Heat better hope they can come back from a large 10-15 point lead in the playoffs because the Celtic’s are in control vs Miami.

Everyone is so critical of them, even people that live down here in Miami always whine about the team.

The Heat arent going to pull some championship this year, i highly doubt that. Maybe Finals but lets face it they are young, compared to the time the other “elite” teams have been together. And dont gimme that BS about Boston winning after they joined, different times people, competition was not as hard as it is now.

I am so sick of all of these crack smoking Heat Fans who actually think they stand a chance come playoff time. How do you expect to compete when they are playing 3 on 5 at all times. A healthy Celtics team is actually capable of sweeping them. To the idiots who say Shaq (or Jermaine) are not important know nothing about basketball. If you have a 7ft2, 325lb body clogging the middle, and knocking down anything that comes his way, you think that may have an impact on the game. He is capable of getting 10 or 15 points at any given time if thats what they need him to do. If he fouls out (like he does too often) then insert JO, Perk, or even Semi. Yes, thats right, that is 4 near 7 footers. Who on Miami is going to stop Shaq if they dump the ball in to him? Bosh, Z or Anthony? They couldn’t stop Rondo from coming through if he wants to.. Bosh is a pansy and had to resort to 10 to 15 footers against Boston last game just to get his points. The only reason he got the touches he had is because Wade and LBJ couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn. They are a soft weak team and are going to get eaten alive come playoff time. Boston 4 to 0 season series and Boston 4 to 0 playoff series. Thats right, you can’t beat a complete team with 3 players. Keep smoking that Miami crack!!!

celtics fan quit using that sorry excuse that the celtics would have beat the lakers if they had perkins last year. you got beat and cant take a loss like a man. quit acting like perkins is that much of a difference maker. cant stand you celtics fans. excuse after excuse. im not going to bring up that the lakers didnt have bynum in 08. i hope the magic knock out both of your teams.

All of ESPN and the rest of NBA NEEEEEEDS to stop kissing lebron and wade’s A**es! Yes they have talent, no they aren’t a team. There is no bench on the heat and Lebron and Wade still can’t have big games together. It’s either one or the other! I’m not just saying this because i’m from boston either. The heat can’t match up to any big name teams in one game never mind a seven game series in the playoffs!

Your’re kidding right? The 06 Heat was better than this year’s Heat? The best player they had on that team was an aging Shaq followed by Wade (a younger Wade who was no where as great at the present-day Wade), This year’s team has 3 multiple All-Stars, one of which is a two-time MVP destined to be one of the greatest players to play the game and another MVP caliber player (Wade). And I know “close” doesnt count as a win. It only shows that there is very little between the teams; therefore, it is possible the Heat can win in a 7 game series, especially when the Celtics show up with their cold packs, muscle creams and wraps, and canes after the 4th game.

Pacers are not a title contenting team. The Celtics are. They still haven’t played a game with a full roster yet. Until the Heat beat them, they need to improve. Every Championship team had key players that were not All Stars but pulled through for the team in the Playoffs……John Paxson, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Manu Ginobli, Dennis Johnson, Vinny Johnson, etc. If the Heat get injured, their record wouldn’t be NEAR to the Celtics record right now. The Heat are good but the Playoffs will show the results. Just like the Celtics in 2008. They won 66 games but they still had to prove themselves in the postseason.

I have been following the mighty bean town boys since 1990 and I have watched them grow (and fall too!!). I love watching this new breed of players such as Lebron & Wade, yes they can play some ball and win games but as a team they don’t have the depth on the bench to win championships. Any team can beat any other team on any given night and the Heat seem to really struggle against teams that have a good bench. The Celtics are probably one of the best (I would love to say the best but that’s just biased) at playing with depth. If Pierce, Ray Ray or KG can’t step up on the night, out comes Big Baby or Nate….or West when he’s healthy and will pile on 10-20 points in 15-20 mins. I admire Doc for the way he coaches the team, and it really is a team. Look at the consistant injuries we have and guess who’s still atop the East. The Heat….well just give it to Wade or Lebron and see what happens. Last nights game proves my point exactly, with the so called “Big 3” scoring 90 of their 110 points, what would happen if Lebron or Wade get injured…sorry Heat, it’s game over come playoffs. I don’t think Lebron will ever win a championship – should have stayed in Cleveland buddy, people would have had more respect for you if you did. I guess it’s just….Karma.

The Celtic’s are NOT the CAVS!!!!!!!!!! San Antonio had great D and a great defensive team can beat a 1 man show anyday. Look at the 76ers when AI took them to the Finals they won game 1 but that was it. Get real the Heat can’t beat boston now and won’t eliminate them in the playoff either. I guess Boston’s going to slack up in the post season not a chance they play better. Look at last season befor the playoffs the Celtic’s looked like they were going nowhere but shocked everyone and could’ve won the finals but fell short. Get real Heat fans. I love D.Wade he’s from here Chicago and he’s a killer on the court but Boston has been shutting him down this year.

what is that means , actually – “Theheatsucks” . Heat is a one of the best team in NBA (i am talking about statistics – winning lots of games) .If Heat sucks , it means , at least 90% NBA teams , players suck . If 3 all-stars (LeBron, Wade and Bosh) sucks , means US basketball sucks . is that right ?

I dont even know why i am wasting finger energy to respond to you rs. Heat is one of the more exciting teams in the nba, not one of the best. They cant even beat boston, so how are the one of the best? Again who gives a damn about statistics! Stats dont win championships, so get over stats heat fans! US basketball and the nba are entirely different dumb dumb!! And learn how to spoke before you address me boy!

The heat are missing udonis haslem who is a very big part of their rotation. when bosh is off the floor he is replaced by someone like joel anthony. when haslem comes back they will be a far better team as their depth will grow. carlos arroyo did a pretty good job and is now been benched for eddie house. arroyo is a good 3 point shooter and is also better on defence. get him back in the rotation. the heat are in the top 5 defensve teams and if they sort out some little problems then the championship will be theirs

So the Heat can’t beat the Celtics in the playoffs? Well they will beat the Celtics next game at home in Miami. Remember, their games have been close and the Heat were always in stricking distance of a win. And remember when Miami won the title in ’06, they beat Dallas in 6 games. This was a team Miami had lost to 3 times in that regular season and had been dominated for some time. Just shows you how things go in the playoffs.

Its Indiana… who cares… yawn…. wake me up in time for the playoffs (or when Indy is good again) and then we will talk about who is better and the heat and their big 3… Otherwise why raise a fuss over every heat game that doesn’t matter.

I am So SORRY all you Heat fans. But until the Heat can actually beat the Celtics you guys can’t say your the best or even close I mean come on! Cetlics were even a little beat up with injuries and they still couldn’t pull it off. When you talk about the elite teams it’s the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs period. Sure Heat are very good. But they won’t ever even face the Spurs or Lakers in the finals if they can’t beat the Celtics. Lakers I will admit can play like losers but hey it’s their privilage they are the champs twice so it’s hard to get up for every game while regular season while Heat have NO excuse!! Lakers Celtics in the finals again! Lakers in 6!

i’d like to see what “The Heat Suck” would say if the celtics will lose to the heat come playoff time. I still like miami losing this regular season. It will be a learning experience for them coz come playoff time they will be more hungry beating the celtics. Im sure come playoffs time they will know how to beat the celtics’ old ass team. and make kg allen and pierce retire. Also the lakers. they suck right now. they wont get pass the mavericks and the spurs in the playoffs.

Celtic fans have the bragging rights for now but as a Heat fan I am not even worried about them or the other teams. I’m just concered with the health of the Heat roster. D-Wade has been getting banged up, Bosh and James both had scares this year and we’re still waiting on Haslem. But still I have faith in this team and still believe they can and will make the finals.

Although the Big 3 in Heats might not be as goods as the Big 3 in Celtics now, they are much more fund to watch during games, while Celtics games are quite boring because they are slow, average about 80-90 points per game.

Boston is better, more organized, more experienced, wiser, and this is their last shot to get the title with this crew which tells you how motivated they are.
It is also funny how everybody got mesmerized by the Heat’s performance last night against Indiana. The ONE thing I remember out of the whole game, is how fast the Heat got a 24 point-lead, but mostly how fast Indiana, a 0.453 team caught up and how fast the Heat just gave up those 24 points. The Heat are like a “bipolar” person, totally unstable and unbalanced, capable of playing amazingly for one quarter, and screw up the whole advantage they earned in 2 quarters.

They have a shot at the title this year, but I think they have a better shot at it next year. I would secretly smirk if this crew never gets a championship, though. I would think: “hey, life isn’t that unfair, and takes care of punishing gigantic pretentious egos, smacking down the overwhelming promotion of a team that should be better than what their records show.”

I am a huge D-Wade and Miami Heat fan. Lebron James at the moment is the slightly better player, it is most certainly not as large of a gap as many “experts” will have you believe, this is certainly not a Jordan/Pippen combination as Pippen was never a top 3 player in this league. This is 2 of the 3 best players in this league and as this article states, when they’re rolling they are next to unbeatable.

I found it laughable when Lebron James said after last nights game, something to the effect of, “when its winning time we know what to do” … right James, maybe against the crap teams with under 500 records.. give me a break hangtime blog! as someone famous says YOURE BETTER THAN THAT!

Man this really makes me laugh .. First this entire article about how the Heat cant hardly be stopped, yet their record against the elite teams is 1-6 and 0-3 vs the team they will HAVE to beat to get to the finals. And to the people saying Udonis Haslem is the difference maker.. Please, he played in both of the first two losses, and in the second game he had 21 points and 10 rebounds, both higher than his averages, so please give me a break about him being the key to beating the Celtics. This article is a joke that only Heat fans will read and agree with, everyone else realizes the Heat can only do this against the bottomfeeders of the league, evidenced by their dismal record against the best teams.

PS the Heats record in games decided by 5 points or less is also TERRIBLE, they cant finish even with their so called ‘starpower’.

As long as the flakers dont win, its all good! I like Boston and Miami, both r pretty legit teams. I think Boston has a slight edge, but just slightly. I’m callin SA v BOS in the finals tho and Boston takes it by 7. Lol

The Heat have not played up to their potential nor have they played up to Boston’s level the nights they’ve played them. That doesn’t mean they can’t beat Boston, though. First of all, the “Any Given Sunday” rule applies to the NBA as much as any other sport, even the Pistons or Clips could beat Boston on a given night. But more than that, the Heat are still a team learning what it takes to win, what it means to have enough talent to win decisive victories over almost any team – and the responsibility that comes with that. We’ve seen glimpses of what they can do – moments of greatness. But they still need to figure out how to do it consistently. One thing is for sure so far this season though, the Heat at their best are better than the Celts at their best, with the problem being that the Heat have rarely played up to their potential for more than a quarter at a time, much less a game. While a lot of that has to do with opposing teams’ strategies and coaching, much of it falls on the players’ laps in terms of the effort they’re giving. Also, everyone keeps mentioning that Boston had 3 “key” players hurt the last time they played. I call BS. West and the O’Neals are important, but not “key” players. The Heat, however, have Wade constantly hobbled, Bosh and James recently back from injuries, Miller who was out for a big chunk of the season and has been experiencing some of the onset symptoms of concussions the last few games, and, most importantly, Haslem has been out since almost day one. I’m from Cali and have been a life-long lakers fan, but I’ve lived in Miami for the past 15 years. I’ve seen what Haslem has meant to the Heat in the pre-Big Three era and understand how much they lost when he went out so early in the season. The Heat you’re watching now are barely halfway to their full potential. Whether or not they ever reach that potential remains to be seen, but as it stands, the Heat have a very good chance of taking down Boston on any given night.

Last year Cavaliers won the highest number of games among both leagues, yet they come out short in the playoffs. so you can’t really rely on regular season to predict what’s gonna happen in the Playoffs. Playoff intensity is different than regular season. In the playoff, u play the same team one after the other, so you can watch tapes and make adjustments, and plus u get a great amount of time between games. So you’d have to wait until the playoffs to really say who will win the Eastern Conference.

ok ok enoughs enough now, the heat beat a bad pacers team now everyone is crowning them champions. let me ask you guys something, have they beaten the east elite (boston and chicago)? the record says no. lebron and dwayde cant carry them through a whole 7 games series against those 2, non the less then go off to beat a finals opponent out west

Adam its not because they beat indiana. its because of how they play even if the allstar break is near. Have you seen the title?? Heat Grinding. Most teams would stop playing hard and maybe lessen their all star some minutes so they could rest come All Star game. but not the Heat. So please stop being Stupid or maybe u just are.

So strange, when Lakers were blowed out by Magics, then Bobcats (24-31), people still says they are the best team in the league. While Heats had only one loss in last 10 games (40-15), already beated Lakers once, people still have so much more negative opinions against the Heats.

ITS FEBURAY AND WERE 2 TIMES CHAMPS COULD MAKE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS IN THE 8tH SEED AND STILL WIN IT ALL.. N MIAMI IS A NEW TEAM THEY NEED TO PROVE THEY CAN ALTEAST WIN IN THE SEASON SO NO SUPRISE THERE STILL TRYING HARD WITH THE ALLSTARS ON THE WAY.. LIL GUY

hey whats going on guys? well i just wanna say we all have the right to voice our opinion but the fact of the matter is miami weakness is going up against nba’s best defensive teams. yea they have 2 superstars but they kinda remind me of the kings and maverics from years ago! both had more offense than defense anytime you can give up 100 points night after night with d wade labron and bosh on the same team something is wrong! the reason why they keep losing against boston is because they are a highlight real everytime i see hightes of the heat its on fast breaks nothing in the half court and they are going to need to be some type of defensive team if they wanna even win a championship because i promise all you heat fans they are not gone be able to play like this in the post season and like my guy said they only blow out weaker teams and boston has not been healthy all season but miami still cant beat them?????? then i here people talking about labron getting triple doubles almost every night ok thats cool lets think about the dream team of 92 do u guys have any ideas how many assits the dream team had? well lets just say they average 40 point victory that whole summer and my point is this i would be able to do the same if i had other superstars on my team meaning most of his passes go to d wade and bosh so untile miami learn how to play half court defense and offense there not going anywhere! SO GOOD LUCK HEAT FANS!

good article, totally true!
lebron is destined to never win a championship because he betrayed his home state and had to merge with two other SUPER stars just to have a legit team , he is the problem with the NBA right now now all the stars want to go to stacked teams instead of having honour and playing it out for a city.
if lebron was a true nba legend he wouldve stuck in cleveland, stuck it out for his home fans and even if he didnt win a championship he wouldve been known as a legend for having enough pride and dignity to play for his home state no matter how good or bad they did
there was trade talks of Kobe all over the place over the years but when it comes down to it, he stuck there
lebron is a phony and ruined the NBA

You make some really good points. However, I have a hard time comparing the Heat to the Mavericks and the Kings of the early/mid 2000’s. Both the Mavs and the Kings were terrible defensive teams but Miami is top 5 right now I believe. I completely agree that Miami’s weakness is ultimately their lack of a half-court offense. Like you said, they are unbelievable and unbeatable in fast break situations but can’t do that against solid defensive teams like the Celtics. That has always been a knock on LeBron and whatever team he has been on: the lack of a half-court offense.

Thank you corey meadows. You must be someone who watches a lot of basketball. Unlike this moronic a** heat fans. The run and gun style of bball this team plays never has and never will win a championship. If it could the PHX team that gave the LAKERS fits a few years back would have won one then. That PHX team was a better TEAM then what the heat have and they couldnt win with no half court defense.

All the Miami’s team was good yesterday against Indiana, they were good on offense and defense. Especially the big 3. And they did that without the help of the referees!!! Cause they ‘ve made so many mistakes that it could have cost the Heat an L instead of a W!!! Everybody wants this team to fall down except the Miami’s fans!!! Other’s are still booing Lebron for his decision. But when Boston did that nobody booed them!!! Everybody were like “waow what a great team they going to be champs” blablabla!!! Ok now the Heat has his big 3 an what? They don’t have the same armada has the Celtics or the Lakers or the Mavs and many others!!! So you got to give them credits, cause around the big 3’s there are only warriors, no big names like Shaq, Bynum, Chandler… GO HEAT!!!

LBJ does not get a ring because he did not get help from his teammates in Cavs. You can see how Cavs record this year without LBJ. If Kobe can meet Lebron in the Final and beat him, and beat him a few more times, then you may say Lebron can’t get a ring because of Kobe. If fact, LBJ’s Cavs beat Lakers 2 times last season, and one more already this season with Heats. All of them were decisive double digit wins. If they can meet in the Final, I don’t think Kobe and win over Lebron. However, looking at the performace from the Lakers now, they will not be in the Final.

U forget lebron had shaq, mo williams, jamirson, big z, j moon, verajo.(no help my ass) this year no shaq no big z no verajo ( thats y thery have a loosing season…the guy quit that simpley…n who can blame him..cus he knew to win he would hav to go thru LA soo y not quit and start over with 2 superstars on the team… maby le bum will get a ring when kobe retires … maybi

The heat will beat boston next game but they need to get better at the point guard position. Call up Rafer Alston, Yeah hes a headcase but he wont back down and hes still better then those two guards they have now. Real talk. Or get steve Nash!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA 0-3 and you still think this team can beat the celtics in the playoffs? WOW, i want some of what your smokin. Nobody on that team can guard Rondo, and now you say the heat should go and get Rafer Alston. WOW! Now steve nash ya!

GO HEAT!!!!!!!!! we will beat the Celtics when the time comes, just watch……… #1 heat fan we love all our players and stand behind them 100% UDONAS HASLEM is our missing link for Celtics and will be back soon.

I’m sorry but if your name is THEHEATSUCK, your opinion automatically has absolutely no value. Lebron does nothing in the playoffs? how about dropping 40 ppg on orlando, im pretty sure with 10 rebounds and about 7-8 assists. All in all i’m pretty sure lebrons playoffs numbers are just as good, if not better, than his seasons. Can’t it be his team didnt perform when needed? when kobe averaged 35 ppg in the season then was kicked out after leading 3-1 (!!) nobody put the blame on him. Bosh hasnt proven himself at all (i live in toronto) but that should also take away your insults because he hasnt had the CHANCE to prove himself in the playoffs. Wade’s amazing, its hilarious how no person, as much as they hate the heat, insult dwayne wade. shows the kind of character the guy has. having said that, lebrons the best player on the team and if youre SO confident wade will do something, then you should be assured that lebron will only outdo that. i didnt want to rant, but youre a complete idiot, and the type of fan that ruins any sport.

The best team ever was the 97-98 bulls 72-10 when they beat that record we’ll call them the best ever til then STFU the heat are not even the best in the conferance let alone the league. Best ever is so far fetched I guess MIA had the best drugs. Mia has the most fake fans as well like 10% true fans and 90% band wagon jumpers.

Dude , the only game that really was important was the last one, In the first two HEAT was figuring out how to play,
you have the two best players in the nba coming from being the center of offense , to share the spotligth in a new team.
its true that the celtics have more depth but the HEAT have the two best players.the refs also made costly mistakes
in favor a BOSTOM(KG ELBOW, LEBRON DRIVE).

I am proud of the heat team, i know they have a lot of people against them because now their teams wont do as good as they thought they would, being that lebron joined heat. with most against them they still rise, lebron a message to you “I am iCoolidge and i say to you that we are behind you, and we will always cheer the name lebron james. keep it up, and heat players, get it moving, put eddie house in their more. and we will do even better.

Flashy pass after flashy pass. Flashy dunk after flashy dunk! Aye heat fans, keep in mind your team is 0-3 againist the celtics. The heat couldnt beat the celtics last game and the celts were down 3 key players. West and both O’ Neals. How in the world do you silly heat fans expect this team to beat the celtics in the playoffs and they cant even do it with the celtics having injury issues right now. I dont think a team like the heat wanna go into the playoffs knowing the couldnt beat this team in the regular season. We all know what lebron is about in the playoffs, nothing! Bosh im sure will have his pink panties on when the playoffs role around and he will act like a girl. Wade will be the only one to MAYBE do something. But it wont be enough to beat the celtics. This team is a joke! And Lebron looks like a sucka in this photo.

@HEAT and you are a dumb a** becasue i have never been a Cav fan. Im a LAKER fan the team and the city thats all about winning championships b***h! How can you say the heat are the best with 1 championship, thats right count them, 1. Only star i have any respect for on the team is wade, and thats just a little respect. James, most of us know he is a coward and no where near and shouldnt be mentioned in the same convo as KOBE and JORDAN. I really enjoy pissin you lebron and heat fans off. You know what i say is the truth, thats why you get upset. I will bet anything this team wont win a championship until the get a better center and better point guard. And even then, its still a meaningless championship.

Its funny how you talk about the heat, first let me say, they are an nba team, they are famous, everyone knows them, they get paid millions, they are in great health, most of what i said doesn’t apply to you, but anyway, heat can beat the celtics, its not that hard, heat like any other time can beat any team in the league. so talking about that, come play off time you and all your hating buddies facial expressions will be priceless if the heat beat them. i bet you will jump on the bandwagan then.

the heat just played the celtics who had like 6 or 7 players injured, paul perice went 1-10 and the friggen celtics won?
face the facts heat fans if the celtics are healthy they are going to destroy the heat.

The Heat will be ready come playoff. Stop hating on the Heat just because they have the potential to become the best team in the EAST. It does not matter how good you do in the regular season is all about the playoff. Boston can lose in the playoff just like any other team. Boston is old we all saw how they were missing wide open layups against the Wizard it just shows that they will get tired once they get to the second round. You’re talking about West and both O’neal like they actually make different in Boston get real.

Did you watch last year’s playoffs ? that CELTICS OLD TEAM went to the finals and almost beat the Lakers. They would have beat them if Perkins was not injured. And guess who they beat in East Playoffs, Lebron James in 6 matches !!!!.

Ray Allen an OLD PLAYER has the 3 point record and Pierce won the 3 point championship last year !!!

celtics fan, the celtics beat the cavs only because the cavs were not united(those rumors), Lebron beat them by himself
in the second or third game(do not remerber exactly) in the first quater , and then Lebron quit because something happened to the team. then the celtics got the credit.

Your a joke, stop kidding yourself. This team is no where near to being fully developed yet. Be prepared to see the Celtics go down by 20 points the next time the two of them play. If you forgot were missing Udonis Haslem, a bigger element to the Heat, than either O’neal is to the celtics. Also let us not forget the your boy Paul Pierce was held to about 0 points. We’ll get their and when we do be prepared to watch history in the making.

Really by 20 ? i think HEAT was down by 20 points in all those 3 games they lost… and Paul Pierce played with a flu, wrist injury. If he would have made 5 of those 10 shots, Heat would have lost by 15 points !!!!!

you know whats sad is that its true that the team is nowhere near fully developed, but the celtics were not even close to playing their best basketball. half of their roseter was gone, so when they get totally healthy, they’ll be even tougher to take down. pierce had the flu, what did you expect? for him to have a good game? how in the hell did a heat team lose to a celtics team when one of the celtics big three didnt even score a single point!? thats pretty pathetic if you ask me. and lets not even get started on how james wasnt able to convert those free throws. so much for a clutch player. talk is nothing, its all about results. celtics are 3-0 against the heat. this isnt even coming from a celtics fan. Once the heat beat the celtics once, then theres room to talk, but as of right now, you have none.

@CELTICS WHO? When have the celtics lost to this miami team by 20 points? So what makes you think it will happen in the playoffs? This is what i mean when i say heat fans are idiots. The heat havent even beat the celtics this season not one time. What makes you think that all of a sudden the heat will just blow the celtics out in the playoffs. Like someone else said, its time for you heat fans to get real.

Shaq has more rings than the entire HEAT team combined. He has 3 NBA Finalz MVP’s. He doesn’t choke and pout and run away without shaking hands like LeBum does. Anything the HEAT does will never be as impressive as ANY of the NBA Champions before them. They are a joke.

Shaq is key to eat minutes and box out down low and grab boards. The Heat are developed. They only have two players and Wade and James are great when they get in the open floor but that won’t happen often against Boston. And yes we lost to the Cav’s, who in turn beat the Clippers, and on Jan 12th the Clippers beat the Heat. Whats your point? Haslem? Really? The Heat might be able to pull out a win against Boston, but never a series win. Sorry Heat lovers, no changing of the guard this year. Don’t cry though in a few years Allen and Garnett will retire and the Heat can finally have a chance.

@Celtic’sWho? Man your toooo funny how the hell can the Heat beat Boston by 20 when they can’t beat them at all. CelticFan Your 100% correct the Heat were down by like 20 points in all 3 games vs Boston. lol Paul P had 1 point 1 point dude and all the injuries Shaq,JO, Delonte, Nate R. wow and yes shaq has a precense in the middle even at his age his size just makes a differance. I can’t wait til April when Boston sweep these lil brothers they’re calling themselves. @Ryan yea the Celtic’s lost to the Cavs but the last time they played the Cav’s Boston killed them by double digits. That’s like me sayin the Celtic’s beat the Lakers but last game the Lakers pulled out that win vs Boston. It’s like the Heat fans sayin we blew Orlando out but since that 1st game vs Orlando the Heat have not beat them. Heat fans get real please the Heat only chance is that the Bulls or Orlando to take the Celtic’s out because they sure can’t do it. When the season started I said the heat might win 1 out of 4 vs the Celtic’s let’s see if they can win even 1 vs the Celtic’s.

Is everyone forgetting they blew a 24 point 1st quarter lead??? The Pacers bench outscored them 42-7 las time I checked. That is definately something to be worried about. Just because they beat the Lakers on Xmas day didn’t mean anything either… It looked like LA made a point that they didn’t care about the game, even in an interview with Kobe he says ” oh just because they assembled the team doesn’t mean I need to go win a championship now, we’ve been there.” What made me the most angry was how they kept crediting Miami’s defnese in the Xmas day game when only 1/2 LA’s shots were contested, the other half they just were missing. I’d be worried about MIami and not let a win over the Pacers pick me up.
However, that full court alley oop was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. THAT was cool.

We still haven’t the seen the Heat play like that with any degree of consistency against tough teams, and that should be cause for concern. I’m sorry to rain on the parade, but it’s true. They squash weak teams with their ability to set the pace, but are nowhere near as successful when they are forced to grind a game out.

I absolutely love watching miami heat play, even when they slack up and the other team score 10 points in a row, but they will buckle down and win the game and that is all that matters. It irritates me to see people say the heat beat a sorry team the pacers, no the pacers are not considered elite, but they are a good team, and miami earned that win, Miami Heat is going all the way and I’m ready for the ride.

It stands out when someone says “could obviously care less” considering it means almost the exact opposite. Anyway, yes the Heat are looking great after just half of a season. Imagine what they will do after a full season and playoffs together.

Kobe Bryant: 5 rings, 2 finals MVP’s,3 All star MVP awards,1 MVP season award, 2 gold medals in USA, 1 Dunk contest award:*Overall 14 awards.*
Lebron James: 1 Rookie of the year award,1 Scoring Champ award, 2 All star MVP awards,2 MVP season awards and 2 bronze and 2 gold medals in USA team: Overall:*Overall 10 awards.
Kobe Bryant Age:32
Lebron James Age: 26
I would go with Lebron James by the end of 2012 season there is a chance he’ll pass kobe’s amont of awards. By winning All star MVP once or twice, Season MVP once or twice, One or two championship rings and 1 or 2 Finals MVP’s and he’ll be 27, meaning he has a chance to even double the amount awards kobe has. *SO LEBRON IT IS*.

Lebron is the best in the league imma tell you why first of all after shaq left kobe barely got his team to a playoff and needed help where lebron in 07 took a cleveland team to the NBA Finals lol now who was is robin on that team my point there was none imagine a team lebron could have like the lakers he would be working on championship number 4 right now

You people just dont get it, yeah i agree Lebron is the best in NBA currently and thats only because FATHER TIME has caught up to Kobe, which it does to all players, but saying Lebron is better than him, HELL NAH….

You people keep going off stats…and stats dont tell the WHOLE TRUTH about any player

Kobe is smarter and more discipline in his craft, all of the hard work he has put in…alot of Kobe’s game is based on skill, while Lebron’s is based sheerly on athelticism (may have spelled that wrong).

Look how far Kobe has came from being a 13th pick out of the draft kid from highschool…he had to show and earn his spot, Lebron had it handed to him being the number 1 pick and starting out as a franchise player for cleveland. And with his 8 years in the league can you really say his game has had any massive improvement? he still doing the same things he was doing his rookie year and hasnt really evelated much of his overall game and skill set…

When Lebron gets 30 and up, and loses that speed and quickness what he is going to do, steamrolling to the basket wont work anymore, he will need a postgame or a jumpshot, two things he hasnt fully mastered yet

You compare Kobe and Lebron, Lebron has more assists and rebounds, well look for assists Lebron is a guy who passes before shooting, while its the opposite for Kobe, so how compare the two that way? With rebounds, Lebron is only getting more he is built like a horse, more weight and height than kobe…

One more thing, Kobe is like what 5000 career assists, Steve Nash is 7000, thats pretty good for a SG who usually shoots first then passes…

Kobe is better than Lebron, stop oomparing a 32 old man to a 26 year big kid….when Kobe was in his prime, had his jumping ability and quickness he was WAY better than Lebron at the same age, FACT!

@Lakers 2011-3Peat what up Fam haven’t seen ya on in a min. I have to agree with you about Kobe vs Lebron. I’m not a laker fan or Kobe fan. I was once a big Kobe Hater but you can hate Kobe as much as you want but you can’t deny that Kobe’s just a great player the best in the league now. Kobe has rings for 1 but rings don’t tell the story Jack Haley has rings and never suited up for the post season. Kobe has something Lebron will probably never have and that’s Heart and the Killer instinct. truthfully if Kobe was Lebrons size he would be a real problem as if he’s not a problem for opponents now. If Lebron was Kobe’s size he wouldn’t be as good. Lebron’s jumpshot is not better than Kobe. Lebron has speed and size. Kobe has finess moves and post moves. Lebron has no post game and his turn-around J is not pure like Kobe. The Stats never tell the entire story, Lebron is a stat chaser like Wilt Chamberlin. wilt was great but only had 2 or 3 rings because individual stats meant more than winning to him. Lebron will never reach Kobe’s level but stat wise Lebron’s numbers are great but think if Kobe or anyone was the same size as lebron do you really think a smaller Lebron would be as good?

I enjoy watching the Heat play everytime. I am not sure I have missed a game this season. I am in Oregon and have NBA league pass so I get to watch all the Heat games. The Heat strength is running the ball. If they do that at all times I don’t think even Boston can stan in their way.

all u heat fans how many times do the celtics have to show that they cant be stopped if they are healthy and the last time the celtics played the heat half the players were injured on boston’s roster…………come on guys time to get real.

@kb & Jojo both of you guy’s are correct, Boston just owns Miami and @Chris Kofi you have to be dreaming, Boston has not allowed them to run. Boston has Good TEAM Defense, Good team D= Championships. Boston just beat miami with a 12 man roster with most of the Bigs not playin. Good luck to Miami while facing good teams with good D.

Amazing performance!!! Thats the way to start a game, but ya’ll cant just sit back, relax and let them come back in the game!! Ya’ll need to show the world that ya’ll are truly the best and not just talking crap!! D Wade and Lebron needs to fiercely attack the basket from the beginning of the game, set the tempo, let them know what you’re bringing, let them know who’s boss!! I’ve seen every Miami game this season and i know what ya’ll are capable of!!

@ballbuster: That’s true with what you said about the Heat not beating the Celt’s THIS playoof year. But just like what D-Wade said “This is a Big Brother thing. MJ went through Bird plus his 90’s Celts & through Isiah Thomas’ Pistons before winning his first title. Lebron went through the Pistons as well before reaching his first NBA Finals appearance, only to be demoplished by the Spurs. Let’s see what YOU have to say come next year when the Celtic Warriors will age an additional year. WE WILL GET WHAT WE WANT & THAT IS ANOTHER NBA CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY. WE KNOW HOW THE WAITING GAME WORKS & BY GOLLY WE WILL HAVE OUR TURN. =)